'TUF: Live' coach Urijah Faber looks to Andy Ogle to end opening round on 5-1 run

LAS VEGAS – At the very worst, Urijah Faber will go 4-4 against rival head coach Dominick Cruz on “The Ultimate Fighter: Live.”

With a victory this week during the show’s ninth episode on FX, Faber could close out the opening round of the reality-competition series with a 5-3 record.

Team Faber initially was in a 0-2 hole but has won four of five since then. Such a comeback is easy, Faber joked to MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com), when you’re dealing with someone as unintelligent as Cruz.

“It feels great to be in this position,” Faber told MMAjunkie.com after Friday’s episode at the UFC Training Center in Las Vegas, where his No. 8 pick, Chris Saunders, upset Team Cruz’s No. 2 pick, Sim Sicilia. “We really needed to rally after that first big loss. It was such an upset in my heart.”

With his victory, Cruz took over matchmaking duties, but he didn’t hold them long. And as Cruz walked by as Faber discussed the up and downs of the lightweights-only season, he decided to take a jab at the UFC bantamweight champion and his upcoming UFC 148 opponent.

“If Cruz would have been smarter, he could have kept control for a little bit longer,” Faber said as he smirked at Cruz. “But we’re not dealing with the smartest man on the planet here, so I’m lucky for that.”

The comment got Cruz to stop in his tracks. While Faber and Cruz clearly dislike each other – their rivalry started more than five years ago – they’ve appeared to lay it on extra thick for the cameras.

Faber, though, said he’s not manufacturing anything. Tweaking Cruz, he said, is just his way to have fun.

“I don’t care about getting in his head,” Faber said. “I’m just having fun. My whole life and my whole mentality is enjoy everything. Life’s too short not to have fun with it, so we’re just having fun, and we’re going to keep picking it up for the rest of the season.”

In the final opening-round fight, Faber’s No. 7 pick, Andy Ogle, takes on Team Cruz’s No. 4 pick, Mike Rio. If Ogle can upset Rio, who had been slowed by a knee injury earlier in the season, Team Faber goes up 5-3 and enters the quarterfinal round with a healthy lead.

Faber knows the young and raw Ogle has his work cut out for him later this week. But by fighting late in the opening round of the tournament, Faber thinks his British fighter has made drastic improvements that could make a difference in Friday’s fight.

“Rio is a really tough wrestler, probably the best wrestler on the show or at least top two or three,” he said. “I think probably the big difference is that Ogle is very comfortable standing and also very dangerous with submissions.

“We’ve worked a ton on his wrestling. He’s picking it up fast. But he’s dangerous on the ground and dangerous standing, and we’re excited about that.”

A total of 26 fighters got their chance to shine on Saturday as part of UFC 190 at Rio de Janeiro’s HSBC Arena. Now that UFC 190 is in the books, it’s time to commence MMAjunkie’s “Three Stars” ceremony.

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